Sunday, 2 May 2010

Sh… perhaps I shouldn’t even suggest this. Yep, last week a nest began to shape in our new nestbox with a B&W camera inside. We had a Blue tit roosting in it too until one night she didn’t appear. I posted:

“Sticking my neck out here, I’d say she’ll be back to this one. She has worked hard on it in a short space of time. I’d say she’s in a hurry. Previous nestbox stories from my garden have both had a night with an empty box after the nest build has begun. Here’s hoping she’ll return to roost here again tomorrow night.”

Well, I was well wrong… disappointment all round there. There has been no activity in this nestbox since then.

We have only seen two broods of chicks in nestboxes and sadly neither lived to fledge dying at around 7-10 days. I would so dearly love to see and share the whole story of a nestbox family.

How quickly things can turn though. The highs and lows of the garden… can we all cope with these dramas?

Just when I was consideringmoving our original camera nestbox round the corner of a wall... on Saturday morning I looked in the nestbox first to find…

Moss discovered in nestbox

on Saturday 2nd May at 09:50.

Yep… there was moss already in the box! There had been nothing in it the few days before. I was busy on Friday and nowhere near the PC. I guess as I was dreaming of tulips a bird was dreaming of happy families in my nestbox :-)

For the last two nights we have had a rooster in this nestbox. A different female Blue tit (which I can tell by her markings) has definitely earned the rest too. She has been incredibly busy with this nest. It is well past the stage of the other one and this lady looks like she has done this before! I’m not thinking this is a first time Mum here. That is excellent news for the success of a brood.

Okay, we’ll not get carried away here. I have no intentions of sticking my neck out this time! This bird and her mate are not getting an easy trot at our nestbox. They do have competition for my garden territory. The female is getting chased into the nestbox either by her mate to keep her safe or by another blue tit trying to get rid of her. I can’t really tell.

Suffice to say our female Blue tit has carried on building her nest regardless! She has been in our nestbox while three Blue tits have been swooping at speed all around my garden up and over the hedge again and again. I really don’t know who was chasing who but something was definitely going on!

Goodness knows how this tale will end. Can our hearts take it all?

Nest building female Blue tit roosting in nestbox

very thick with moss on Sunday May 2nd at 22:41.

I do have some video footage from inside the nestbox which I’ll look at editing tomorrow. I’ve also some absolutely delicious tulip photos to share later on in the week once I get some ID’s for them. I got a chance to chat to Anna after the talk too which was brilliant.

I hope you’ve all had a good weekend and I’m looking forward to catching up on other blogs over the next few days :-D

4 comments:

I am glad to see that a BLTI is trying to nest in one of your boxes. It is high drama. I hate it when they fail but I enjoy cheering them on when they give it a go. I found a Robin's egg on the ground in our garden today. We have has some fierce winds and rain the past couple of days.

Great to see one of your nest boxes being used Shirl. I've just sealed the entrance to my BT box. The only thing building a nest was a wasp! When I get time I'll change the box for a spare, when I can find a camera for it.

Lisa, Oh… so am I. Things have moved on nicely since this too. High drama indeed. Aw… shame about the Robin egg. I never thought about nests in trees and shrubs during strong winds. Hope the winds have gone now :-)

Carla, oh… its getting to the exciting bit now. I am expecting the first egg any day now. The nest is ready for them now. Tick tock :-D

John, thanks, it’s been a long time coming. Let’s hope this is third time lucky. Sorry to hear about the wasps. I had a friend that had that problem too… I gave them the nestbox as a present for their son too.

OSPREY WEBCAM Loch of Lowes

GARDEN VISITS, WALK WITH ME...

GARDEN BIRD VIDEOS, COME SEE WHO CATCHES MY EYE...

I’ve noticed Sparrowhawks appear in the garden during wind and rain. To see my more regular visitors they are hiding behind the handsome chap above – just click on his photo :-)

BLUE TIT NESTBOX DIARY 2010

Six eggs, two attentive parents, hundreds of caterpillars, insects & live mealworms. Result… six chicks successfully fledge! Click on photo link above to follow their story through chat, photos & video.

WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I?

My small garden is in Perthshire, Scotland. I don’t have salmon in my pond, red deer in my borders, ospreys nesting in my acers or red squirrels at my peanut feeders! Nor do I have the world’s highest hedge, paths exciting enough for the serious cyclist and enough of a lawn for golf! However, Perthshire does plus many beautiful gardens too… follow the photo link above to see :-) Update Nov 2016 - Fantastic news, red squirrels now visiting feeders!